This is the month of Brexit, whereupon Boris Johnson can now pass the legislation required to implement his withdrawal agreement so that Britain can exit the European Union on January 31st.  Thereafter, trade agreements need to sorted out to ensure that goods and services can enter and leave … [Read More...] about Antibiotics in our food?

What did 2019 hold for you?  Was it a good year or a dreadful year?  For us, as I’m sure it has been for most people, it’s been a real mixed bag with highs and lows but you know, when there are hard times, it is always helpful to remember all the things that are precious and good in our … [Read More...] about Every cloud has a silver lining…

Having to do a talk to local GPs about rosacea does focus the mind somewhat on this pretty prevalent skin condition.  It was also helpful to see that the October 2019 issue of the British Journal of Dermatology had a study from Belgium on the condition. What is rosacea? Rosacea is … [Read More...] about What’s new in rosacea?

I remember as a child being warned by my mother and father not to get into cars driven by anyone other than the person designated to pick me up from school that day.  And I was most definitely warned to not get in any car driven by any strange men.  If any of you remember Roald Dahl’s … [Read More...] about The downside of being a villain

I recently had the pleasure of spending a morning observing one of my plastic surgical colleagues performing sentinel lymph node biopsy. What is a sentinel lymph node biopsy? This is a procedure used in cancer management, for example in breast cancer or in the case of dermatology, in the … [Read More...] about Go with the blue…

It is August.  It is the time of year when the vast majority of the nation is on holiday and probably jetting off to somewhere hot and sunny. Cancer Research UK also issued a press release on 18th July 2019 that melanoma skin cancer incidence rates have increased by 45% since 2004 with rates … [Read More...] about The forbidden fruit?

The May 2019 edition of the British Journal of Dermatology had an interesting paper on dermatological identifiers of underlying cardiac disease. [Maruthappu T, Posafalvi A, Castelletti S et al.  Loss-of-function desmoplakin I and II mutations underlie dominant arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy … [Read More...] about The usefulness of woolliness

At the time of writing, I have just returned from the European Society of Paediatric Dermatology in Dubrovnik. Of course, all things to do with Paediatric Dermatology are refreshed and new advances have been illuminated.  I always enjoy a bit of historical culture and I thought it … [Read More...] about Calypso’s isle?

Anyone who has a child aged between 5 and 10 years of age will have heard of slime. It’s not the stuff you find coming out of a slug or a snail, this is the stuff of party bags, easy online purchasing and more recently, the stuff of endless online videos showing how to make your own slime at home.   … [Read More...] about Slime busted!

We, as a family, have had a big drive this year to eat a more plant-based diet. Why? Well, probably in a bid to eat less meat (as we eat far too much meat in the Western world for our needs) and also to try and reduce our carbon footprint. Has it worked? Maybe! It can be hard to follow, especially … [Read More...] about Plant oils and eczema

We are always on the lookout for anti-ageing products; creams and serums that can prevent or reverse the altered pigmentation, wrinkles and different skin texture that can occur as we get older, more so on sun-exposed skin.   Natural products or products deemed to be ‘organic’, ‘all … [Read More...] about A natural anti-wrinkle cream?

The dark side of the moon – it’s something that’s received a lot of attention over the years with all sorts of songs and albums written about it.   And then in the week prior to writing this blog, the Chinese landed on the dark side of the moon, a major landmark in space … [Read More...] about L’autre côté de la lune

I appreciate we are in the depths of winter and many of us are not fortunate enough to be able to head off to sunny climes at this time of year. However, it is a good time to plan ahead. I say this because we  had a rather glorious summer last year in the UK and may well again this year so maybe our … [Read More...] about Keeping our children SunSmart

It’s that time of year when sprouts are on the menu! Now I’m rather partial to a good Brussel sprout but there are certain members of my family who would run to the hills at the mention of sprouts with dinner and pull all sorts of faces if I put more than three of the aforementioned on their … [Read More...] about Sprout-tastic!

To anyone who has not studied science or chemistry or even those of us who have but have forgotten, trying to explain what pH is to someone who doesn’t know can be quite tricky.   The inevitable question of what the ‘p’ in ‘pH’ stands for occurs and Doctor Google and Wikipaedia aren’t much … [Read More...] about The anti-ageing benefits of a low pH